Asghar Farhadi’s nimble characterizations are painted with all different shades and the story unfolds naturally and realistically. That’s one reason he was the only screenwriter to be nominated this year for a script written in an entirely different language.

Before I started tallying up the movies that made the biggest impression this year, I thought it may have been a weak year for film. It turns out I was dead wrong. Although only one film this year made my hair stand up on end, there were plenty of moving, adventurous, and original films in 2011.